Shining Lights, Week 9, Term 1, 2022
Talking with each other ...
Trust in each other, and our College spirit is founded on our relational knowledge of one another. These don’t arise spontaneously, rather, through many years of the whole College striving together. One of the best parts of being a teacher is talking with students. The conversations that we have each day keep building in a dialogue of learning and knowing over the years.
Students, Teachers and families need to engage in constant dialogue about what they are doing and how they are doing. We sometimes forget that; especially when our lives become busy or we cross paths at pace.
It’s important that we talk frequently about what we are learning. I encourage families to open the conversations with your children. Persist. It’s sometimes difficult to get started, so try asking specific questions that require an answer, “What did you read in English today?, “Let’s have a look over your Maths work together”, or “Tell me about the game in your sports program today”…
However you begin, be sure to listen carefully, ask follow up questions and share reflections. If our children are to succeed in their life, they must learn to be conversant. Our conversations light the paths to learning, so, do the daily practice as you build connections together, and with their lives at school.
What is Initialit?
At the start of 2021 Lumen Christi Catholic College incorporated Initialit into our Literacy Teaching for Kindergarten to Year 2. Initialit is a whole classed based teaching program that is designed to give all students the opportunity to develop a strong foundation of the core literacy skills they will require throughout their schooling and beyond. It is developed to take advantage of the latest evidence based teaching and learning research and practices. All Lumen Christi staff in Kindergarten, Year 1 and 2, as well as Primary Co-ordinators and Learning Support Teachers have been trained in the implementation of Initalit in the classroom.
Lumen Christi's introduction of Intialit is part of Canberra Goulburn (CG) Catholic Educations system wide push to ensure the latest and most effective teaching and learning practices are being implemented across all their schools. Last year Lumen Christi took a leading role in providing feedback to Catholic Education on the use of Initalit and the impact on student learning. Through this process, Lumen Christi staff were commended for their application and expertise in using the program with the College being identified as a ‘Lighthouse’ school for the program rollout across the CG Catholic Education System.
If you have any questions about the use of Intialit, please contact your child's teacher to discuss how the program is being implemented in the class.
Primary News
This week our Junior House Captains Skyla and Ava feature in today's Primary News talking about the two things Primary will be focussing on this week.
Right or Wrong and Other Problems
I am frequently bemused when those well-meaning (and sometimes those less well-meaning) determine that the answer to all of life’s issues is “better education.”
“What a dumb thing for a teacher to say” may be your first reaction, but bear with me. And I have been called worse. Anyway, the “how” to learn overshadows the content, but this is a subject for another time.
I, of course!, love the concept of education , teaching, service, fulfillment, touching the future (I’ll stop there because I’m tearing up). But have a think about all that education has to do – the academic, emotional, social, spiritual, moral, mental, cultural, physical (and if I’ve forgotten anything, it just proves my point) and then break these down into subsets and then subset the subsets…
Is my argument going to be that education can’t do everything? Actually, No! (Although I’ll think about it a bit more – it might have possibilities).
I have seen, for example, all things drug and alcohol related, I PROMISE YOU, taught in every possible, conceivable way – gently, shockingly and everything in between. Yet do kids still dabble/take/abuse – of course they do. Go and ask them, go on, if they knew what they were doing was wrong, or at least ill advised, they will always tell you YES. Therefore, from one perspective, education has done its work, yet the behaviour persists – even when they know it’s wrong. I have chosen a simple scenario and could easily have used any or all of sexting, bullying, gaming, pornography, swearing, fighting, vaping, speeding and so on.
Now I hasten to add that, broadly speaking, that many (maybe even most) students – the percentage is subject to great debate, heed the education that they are given, but obviously many don’t, at least in part. It follows then that knowing right and wrong and always acting on an understanding of right and wrong are to be two different things.
The magic bullet? I’m afraid that I don’t have one, but I would recommend to you reading some online articles dealing with teenage decision making that unpack ideas like the rational part of the brain is the last to mature in your 20's, that impulse riding on the back of peer pressure and low self-esteem, for example, can override right and wrong. This leads us back to old wisdoms that are part of our DNA, for example “You’ll have to learn for yourself” or “You learn by your mistakes.” As a parent and teacher, I pray that these lessons don’t come at great cost.
As I have said, for some education sticks quickly, for others it is less about understanding that they shouldn’t (what we’ve taught them) and much more about how to handle the moment. For them the reservoir of education kicks in later, with greater maturity, when the brain has settled down. The wait is a difficult time. I would think that this is the underlying rationale for the legal ages of consent, alcohol, smoking, driving…
How to handle the moment? As you might imagine, a student will happily concede that they don’t know everything about Chemistry or History etc etc. But getting many to acknowledge, or admit, talk about, that they don’t know everything about growing up, risk taking, peer relationships, romance... is far, far, more difficult – they’re teenagers! The challenge, and lamentably you sometimes miserably fail, is helping kids to pull back, stop and think. This is infinitely more important than another list of don’ts:
- Anyone leading you to something that you know is wrong is exploiting you or perhaps seeking self-validation.
- The real right people aren’t impressed by you doing something wrong.
- What are the consequences of what you are about to do for others?
- What is worrying you, in context of next eighty odd years of your life, may not be the end of the world.
- Would you do this if your mum was here?
- Remember how precious you are.
So my point, eventually, is that teaching the dangers/content of (insert here) for many is not the thing – they get it pretty quickly. Trying to teach kids how to handle the moment is the bigger deal.
Some would say that the foundation of aspiration and education happens in our schools. This is somewhat true, but it is also important to recognise the impact of conversations, role models and experience young people gather from their home environment.
The National Careers Institute, in association with Careers Industry Council of Australia, have developed an information page for parents within the Your Career website. The page is called Little Ripples. It is about having conversations about career options with young children. Have a look at the Little Ripples video (below) that has been produced as a reminder of the small things that can make such a difference.
It is also important to point out that the world of work is continually changing and so too is the pathways for our young people to reach their future aspirations.
As always, please reach out if you have any questions around careers and your child’s aspirations.
Noticeboard
For further information please contact Tamika Gaudie on 6495 8888 or via email at tamika.gaudie@cg.catholic.edu.au.
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